^ 475 

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popy 1 




AN ADDRESS 



DEI.IVERED AT 



Tlpr^ 




S B U R ( 



T, 



'883, 



»' BY 

EXANDER S. WEBB, 



CATION OF THE 72d PA. VOLS. MONUMENT. 

ALSO, 

AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 



72d regiment, 



BY 

CHARLES H. BANES, 

ASSISTANT ADJOTANT-OBNERAL AND BREVET J.IEUT.-COLON i: L. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

PORTER & OOATES 

18 83. 




013 702 165 1 



y 




PHOTOGRAPHED BY TIPTON, 



GETTYSBURG, PA. 

SEVENTY-SECOND PENWA. VOL. MONUMENT, 

SCENE OF PICKETTS CHARGE. 



AN ADDRESS 



DELIVERED AT 



aETTYSBURa 

August 27, 1883, 



BY -' y ■ 

Gen. ALEXANDER s! WEBB, 

11 



DEDICATION OF THE 72d PA. VOLS. MONUMENT. 

ALSO, 

AN HISTORICAL SKETCH 

OF THE 

72d regiment, 

BY 

CHARLES H. BANES, 

ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-QEJJERAL AND BREVET LIEUT.-COLONEL. 

,.• •., 



PHILADELPHIA: 

PORTER & COATES. 

1883. 



.5-5 



COLLINS PRINTING HOUSE, 
705 Jayne Street. 



^M 



WITH COMPLIMENTS OF 

CHARLES H. BANES. 



United States — preserved by the loving hands of those who cherish 
the saddest recollections of our late war — are the lasting monuments 
we have reared to testify to our assurance that it was God himself 
who preserved this Union ; they are the pledges we have given that 
we will be its conservators. 

We, therefore, approach in reverential respect and affectionate re- 
gret the graves of our comrades who have fallen, and, with tender 
recollection of our last companionship with them, we drop the tear of 
pride — yes, but of glorious pride — when we recall the time and the 
circumstance of their death — the time of our own salvation. 

And why build monuments and pay loving respect and especial 
tribute to the memory of these men ? Why claim for them a little 
more of these sad testimonials of our devotion than we give to 
others ? 

If from these few words of mine we may find left with us the con- 
viction that these cold marbles are not yet sufficient to record, with 
anything like fidelity, the magnitude of the services rendered by the 
men who fought on this spot, we will have done no more than simple 
justice to their patriotism in this our act of veneration. 

It is proper, therefore, that it should devolve upon one who was 
present with you in our glorious defence of " the main point of the 
Union line upon which General Lee ordered his columns to advance." 
This is from Longstreet himself. It is proper, I repeat, to write 
that of which he can speak as an actor in the fray, with the certainty 
that no one will hereafter gainsay a clear statement of what we may 
all now testify to, and with the feeling that, in performing this labor of 
love, he does nothing more than pay a proper tribute to the memory 
of these who died a soldier's death while rendering to their country 
a service for which no adequate recompense can be or will ever be 
made, either to their heirs or to their companions still living. 

For thus it is, and thus it always must be, with Republics ; so 



that, expecting nothing and seeking nothing from our Government, 
we come to engrave on imperishable marble our tribute to the fallen 
in your old 72d Pennsylvania, knowing, as none others know, the 
time, the circumstance of their final devotion and gallantry, and 
death. 

You will, therefore, gladly, no doubt, dwell with me for a few 
moments while I endeavor to place before you the facts and the cir- 
cumstances which gave to the old clump of trees we so long defended, 
and which we never lost, the well-deserved name of " the turning 
point in the war." 

And who were these men whose graves are now so signally 
honored, and whose death we crown with historical tribute ? 

Enlisted in Philadelphia in August, 1861, by Col. D. W. C. Bax- 
ter, they served under our old chief, McClellan, on the Peninsula, 
rendering signal service at Fair Oaks, where, under the War Horse 
Sumner and gallant Sedgwick, they came to the support of General 
Heintzelman, and with Sully and others checked the Rebel advance 
at a moment when all was confusion and much was panic. Thence 
to Peach Orchard and Savage Station, under their still honored and 
respected Gen. W. W. Burns, they passed to Glendale, displaying 
such staying qualities, and exhibiting such results of their discipline 
and drill, that they, together with their other regiments of the 
brigade, secured the promotion of their well-tried commander of the 
69th, Joshua T. Owen, to a brigadier-generalship. Tried and ex- 
posed to shot and shell at Malvern Hill, they rested at Harrison's 
Landing — veterans — with a history of which they might well be 
proud. Surviving the disasters and mismanagements of the second 
Bull Run, they covered the retreat from Chantilly to the defences of 
Washington under Generals Sully and Sumner in person. 

And now we ask your attention to their next service, since some 
writers have been misled, and these men, who, on this spot, fought 
with me, and made me known as their commander, have the right to 
demand for their reputation the services of my pen and voice. 

Antietam was a scene of their success and of their bloody loss. It 
was not to them at any time a source of discomfort or of loss of 
reputation. Let Dunkers' Church, had it a voice, relate how they 
passed by it across the open field far, far into the wood, arrested only 
by the personal order of Sumner himself. Count the missing and the 
slain, and recall the promotion of Wistar, and then ask if all this can 
be, and this regiment and this bi'igade be charged with remaining 
in the rear or retiring without success. 



At this time I cannot stop to dwell upon Fredericksburg, where 
their services are acknowledged and recorded. Time fails me, and I 
hasten on to this historic field. 

The battle of Chancellorsville, May 2d to May 5, 1863, whereby 
Gen. Joseph Hooker lost much of his hard-earned reputation, was to 
the Northern patriot so severe a blow — and to the Southern Rebel so 
just a cause for pride and elation — that it is not a matter of wonder 
that Gen. R. E. Lee, taking into consideration the situation at Vicks- 
burg, and almost certainty of the surrender of that city to Gen. Grant, 
determined to " counterbalance that impending disaster" by striking 
at once at the existence of the Army of the Potomac, and our posses- 
sion of the Capitol at Washington by invading the North. 

In matters international, it is generallj; customary, and probably 
wise, to dissemble in regard to our feelings towards all nations — but 
it will be better for us, if we study well the relations of the foreign 
powers to the United States during this portion of the year 1863 — 
before we give way to any very strong feelings of reverence or esteem 
for their policies, their interest in, or their appreciation of our institu- 
tions. And, after such study, if we find that the neutrality of the 
government of England (save on the part of her Queen and Prince 
Consort), was shallow and pretentious; the position of France posi- 
tively hostile; all other nations, except Russia, inclined to rejoice in 
our defeats, it may be well, on such occasions as these, to give way 
to that which is the honest expression of a reasonable distrust of all 
their pretensions, past, present, and future, and thus leave behind for 
the careful consideration of our posterity the soldier's maxim : — 

" l7i jjeace prepare for war.''^ 

That dissembling policy strongly characterized the condition of 
affairs so far as regards our foreign relations from May 3d to July 
4, 1863 ; but Vicksburg and Gettysburg made it necessary for all 
these powers to continue dissimulation indefinitely. 

It may thus be understood that Lee did not lack good and sufficient 
reasons for, and moral support in beginning his invasion, and he seems 
to have felt confident, and reasonably so, that with a force of 75,000 
men, placed north of Baltimore and Washington — cutting or menac- 
ing all their communications North, East, and West — he would be in 
a position to receive suflicient aid from the Northern Copperheads 
and the foreign neutrals, to warrant the claim from his Rebel " Govern- 
ment," that England should throw aside her mask, and acknowledge 
" The (so-called) Confederacy of the South." 



6 

AVhat a day-dream! With English guns, English Shenandoahs, 
English moral support, and now English loans. What was to stand 
between Rebel hopes, and Rebel success ? 

Just one power, Omnipotent in council, irresistible in the field — 

''The will of aodr 

Why relate to you the incidents of the march from the Rappahan- 
nock to Gettysburg. You all took part in it, and remember it, and 
you care for little other than the remembrance of the facts as you 
now recall them. It is sufficient for us to repeat that, July first, we 
found the Rebels here, and that we knew that they had come to stay, 
if the right hand of the Government, the force in whom the people of 
the North had their sole dependence did not drive them out. The 
people knew the qualities of the Army of the Potomac. They relied 
upon it, and not in vain. 

And now we near our subject, " the value of the sacrifice of these 
men — at this point of all others on this field — on the second and third 
days of the battle of Gettysburg." 

For nearly two months the disagreement between the War Depart- 
ment and General Hooker had been steadily approaching that point 
at which the resignation or relief of this General from the command 
of the Army was at last inevitable, and on the 29th of June, Major 
General George Gordon Meade was placed in command of the troops, 
who were destined under Divine Providence to drive Lee forever from 
Northern soil. 

Bid not farewell to Joseph Hooker without expressing for his 
memory that meed of praise which should be his — by reason of his 
services from the Peninsula to Gettysburg. He was willing and 
anxious to fight at all times — was an able, impetuous commander in 
the presence of the enemy — was a warm friend of any one he con- 
sidered a good soldier, and an able man in the field ; but was most 
unwise in the selection of his surroundings. 

His was a sad fate. Stripped of his unwise counsellors, and sur- 
rounded by good men and able staff officers, he would have ceased to 
have been his own worst enemy. He is dead. His faults lie buried 
with him. He was a courageous, ambitious, fearless commander — 
an organizer of men, a fast friend. 

How can we of the Arm}'- of the Potomac speak in adequate terms 
of our last beloved commander, General Geo. G. Meade ! 

He who addresses you, as you well know, knew him as a soldier 



as intimately as any one, serving with him night and day, in battle 
and in camp — how can he express to you one tithe of his love and 
respect for him ! 

The man, who was the first and only man who ever met Lee in his 
pi'ide and strength in pitched battle, and defeated him, has, I know, 
been assailed for years by those whose military history will bear but 
little examination. And recently they have found a mouth-piece quite 
willing to repeat, without sufficient experience or any personal know- 
ledge, the scandals to which these writers gave life, only after their 
final deposition from active commands or responsible duty in an army, 
to whose success, against Lee, they could have added, and did add 
nothing. 

But George G. Meade was, and is known to have been the soul 
of honor, the Christian soldier and patriot, the modest, kind, scholarly 
friend, to all who approached him for counsel and support, the suc- 
cessful chief of the grandest army this continent ever has seen, or 
ever will see. How dare they tell us — on their hearsay — that such a 
man deliberately evaded telling the whole truth before the Committee 
of Congress, which Avas endeavoring to fasten upon him (by his own 
evidence), these malignant aspersions of those discharged, relieved, or 
retired officers — men who well knew that under such a commander as 
Meade, all the abuses practised during Gen. Hooker's rule, to which 
they owed their advancement, must cease. Gen. Meade then declared 
under oath, and called upon his God to witness to his then repeated 
declaration, that not one word of their charges against him was, or 
ever had been, true. 

Strong indeed is the testimony of Sedgwick, Howard, Newton, 
Sykes, Williams, and Gibbon, and A. S. Williams, Avho were present 
at the Council of War, held July 2d, against Pleasonton and Double- 
day, who were not present, and Slocum, who thought Gen. Meade 
said that, " Gettysburg was no place to fight a battle." Stronger 
yet, for the truth of history, is the evident inability of Gen. Birney 
to charge General Meade with any other fault than " seeming indis- 
posed to fight, or hazard a battle on any except the most favoi'able 
terms." Strong indeed, on the side of Meade, is the testimony of 
Gens. Warren, Hunt, and Seth Williams, his trusted Etas' officers ; 
and finally, and last of all, and most powerful against the influence of 
the authors of these charges, are the circumstances surrounding their 
separation from this army, and the natural result therefrom, that some, 
or all of them, have been finally permitted to sink into oblivion after 



8 

having failed utterly in their endeavors to detract from the well-earned 
reputation of Geo. G. Meade. Their punishment is well deserved. 

This Christian soldier, on June 28th, took command of our dear 
old army, and, when he sent forth the following address to us, Ave well 
knew that he and we had come to succeed here or be sacrificed: — 

" By direction of the President of the United States, I hereby 
assume command of the Array of the Potomac. As a soldier, in 
obeying this order — an order totally unexpected and unsolicited — I 
have no promises or pledges to make. The country looks to this 
army to relieve it from the devastation and disgrace of a hostile in- 
vasion. Whatever fatigues and sacrifices we may be called upon to 
undergo, let us have in view constantly the magnitude of the interests 
involved, and let each man determine to do his duty, leaving to an 
all-controlling Providence the decision of the contest." 

And believing in this all-controlling Providence, and relying on 
the skill, the soldierly ability, and the guidance of such a commander, 
the Army of the Potomac moved to this spot, ready to determine 
here in these open fields whether or not it was yet the will of God 
that the Union should be saved. 

And now for a brief allusion to the battle and to the part these 
fallen heroes took in it. Pardon me if I relate something concern- 
ing the details of it, which you may know even better than myself. 
For the sake of the truth in history bear with me for a little while. 

This three days' contest was a constant recurrence of scenes of 
self-sacrifice, and of exhibitions of wise prescience, on the part of 
Meade, Reynolds, and Howard on the first day ; of Sykes, Warren, 
Weed, Hancock, and Geo. S. Greene, the man who saved our right 
flank, on the second; and on the part of all engaged on the third and 
last day. Lee was ever active and pushed us sorely. 

The list of dead and wounded among our higher officers stands an 
ever present witness to the severity of these actions, and their loss 
was indeed to us, who had served with and had learned to respect 
and follow these men, most terrible. 

The history of the battle has been told and retold until Ave are all 
familiar Avith the Avell-established particulars of it,, as Avell as with 
m.ost of the claims made by those Avho have not as yet been able to 
agree as to Avhether they Avere posted by themselves, by their com- 
manders, or by individual skill and forethought, in localities calcu- 
lated to repel Lee's and also any other army of the Kebel Con- 
federacy. 

In the presence of the graves of our dead let us repeat that Avhich 



I wrote of you about twenty years ago, sustained as I have been in 
my statements by the best of our historians, and conscious of my will- 
ingness and desire to acknowleTlge the rights and the claims of any 
and every soldier who may have participated in our triumph. 

Men of the Philadelphia Brigade held this position for the whole 
period of the battle, and were never driven from one rod or foot of it 
under any circumstance, save when the two companies of the 71st, to 
which I refer in my report, others of the same regiment having been 
already removed to afford a space for artillery fire, were fairly over- 
whelmed, and driven back 100 to 150 feet by a mass of the enemy, 
now known to be equal in volume to a full brigade. Some men of the 
other brigades of our division passed in rear of our 7 2d Regiment to 
its right, and, after the assault, to our front, who were not at any 
moment in the immediate face of the Rebels, and who yet claim to 
have passed through that regiment. They did not. 

Justice — simple justice — to these, our dead, requires this declara- 
tion, and if I am to-day brought in direct conflict of statement with 
some of those who so patriotically endeavored to assist us on July 3d, 
it is not through a want of appreciation of their efforts. God knows 
that I was grateful enough to them ; but it is simply through my 
sense of duty to the memory of these, over whose graves we hold this 
service. 

In loving commemoration of their devotion and daring, I must re- 
strict then these claims. 

You were posted, as you will remember, early on July 2d, on this 
ridge ,^ and on the right of our division, by order of Brigadier-General 
Gibbon, our commander. Our right rested on Lieut. A. H. Cushing's 
Battery "A," 4th U. S. Artillery; our left on Battery " B," 1st 
Rhode Island Artillery, Lieut. T. Fred. Brown commanding. The 
69th Regiment was placed behind a fence, a little in advance of the 
ridge — the remaining three regiments of the brigade under cover of 
the hill in the rear. Brown's Battery was in the course of the day 
removed to the front of the 69th Regiment. It remained at this point 
until the assault at 6.30 P. M. 

'■ Extending from the left of the cemetery, and falling off gradually towards 
Kound Top, Granite Ridge formed the natural location for a line of battle. De- 
fence there was none, except the low stone walls marking the field boundaries. 
In the centre of this line, and just below the crest, a small grove of peculiar 
shaped trees gave prominence to the landscape, and it was this copse which was 
selected by Genei'al Longstreet as the point of direction for his columns of attack. 



10 

Your position was one well calculated to render you available for 
the work before you. 

Colonel Charles H. Banes, our adjutant-general of brigade — than 
whom there is no better staif officer or military adviser, nor more self- 
possessed man on the hottest field — has, in his account of this day's 
fighting, written as follows : — 

" Immediately after assuming this position, a detail, ordered from 
each regiment, was advanced as skirmishers beyond the Eramettsburg 
road, and parallel with the Rebel line of battle on Seminary Ridge. 
This disposition was scarcely completed before the enemy opened 
with sharp-shooters and artillery. During the day both of the batte- 
ries on the flanks of the brigade engaged those of the enemy, the 
shelling wounding but few on our side." 

From our position, which gave us a commanding view of our front 
and left, we beheld the whole of the unfortunate advance of General 
Sickles and his subsequent discomfiture, and we knew at the time 
that it would devolve upon General Hancock's command to repulse 
the charge or assault the rebels Avere certain to make. Hancock had 
command of the 1st, 2d, and 3d Corps, and it required all his energy 
and military promptness to save our broken line on that day, using 
for this purpose every man at his disposal. 

We cannot pause to speak in fitting terms of the deaths of Generals 
Weed and Vincent, of Colonel O'Rorke and Captain Hazlett in 
saving for us our position on Little Round Top, or of the sacrifice of 
Colonels Willard, Cross, and Zook, of our corps, in saving the Third 
Corps from total route. Their names have been handed down to pos- 
terity as those of our dead heroes of Gettysburg whose deaths 
ensured to us our victory at the end. No efforts of the very best 
and bravest of our Generals could stem the tide of Longstreet's 
attack, supported as he was by the " best fighting material in the 
rebel army" under Wilcox, Barksdale, Perry, and Wright. Not 
even the soldierly qualities of the brave Humphreys could secure 
more to the 3d Corps than a sullen retreat. Thus were we of neces- 
sity brought into action at about six o'clock P. M. on the 2d, and well 
was the honor of Philadelphia upheld by your regiments. 

" Our skirmishers had been holding their line and engaging the 
enemy during the past hour." 

" The enemy made the assault of the 2d at about 6.10 P. M. 
Their line of battle advanced beyond one gun of Brown's Battery, 
receiving at that point the fire of the 69th, of the 71st advanced to the 
support of the 69th, and of the T2d and 106th, which had previously 



11 

been moved to the left by command of Major-General Hancock. 
Colonel Baxter of the 7 2d, while gallantly leading his command, was 
at this time wounded. The enemy halted, manoeuvred, and fell back, 
pursued by the lOGth, 72d, and part of the 71st. The 72d and 
106th followed them to the Emmettsburg road, capturing and sending 
to the rear about two hundred and fifty prisoners, among whom were 
one colonel, five captains, and fifteen lieutenants." 

During the first assault we lost eighteen officers, and probably 200 
men killed and wounded. We were thus Avell prepared for the work 
before us, and we were thus soon to be tried as men seldom had been 
or have since been in the presence of their felloAv soldiers. 

Let us turn then to the consideration of the part we Avere about 
to take in the final contest for the maintenance of Rebel strength 
north of Washington. 

There is a point to which in any pursuit of life one may attain 
success beyond which he may not pass. With the sanguine hopes of 
bis Government, and the moral support of most of the rulers of the 
nations of the earth, R. E. Lee, the leader of the Rebel forces, was 
permitted to reach this, but till then but little known Pennsylvania 
town — only to find that here all hope of success was to be lost, all 
assurances of carrying the war into the Northern States to be proven 
false. Bitter, bitter failure ! Thus far shalt thou go. 

Gettysburg in the political sense was, and is now throughout the 
world known to be the Waterloo of the Rebellion. And thus it was 
of necessity most bloody. Both sides knew the importance of the 
results, and were prepared then and there to decide the issue. 

For two days Lee had contended to determine to carry some weak 
point in Meade's line, and without success. He had crushed in our 
advance on the first, had driven back Sickles on the second, had 
almost turned both right and left on that day, and had retired only 
to determine upon some point upon which to renew his assaults. 

Once successful with one of his strong columns, he felt that the day 
would be his, and that the first step would be taken towards opening 
correspondence with the Rebels of the North. And now the ques- 
tion in which you are most interested was to be settled, and as Long- 
street has himself given testimony it was settled in your favor. Your 
clump of trees was to be taken, and to be assaulted by the flower of 
the Rebel host. This decision gave you your place in history ; this 
stone wall its prominence. 

Before describing the main assault and its failure, let us refer for 



12 

the last time to some of the reports and histories which have been 
written with the desire to wrest your laurels from you. 

One writer thus describes the action of the enemy " after they 
found his" (the writer's) " command too much for them." "I moved 
my command by the right flank to the foot of the ' bluff,' delivering our 
fire as we marched, and keeping between the enemy and the object 
of his enterprise" (^'. e., us). " He succeeded in reaching the fence at 
the foot of the bluff, but Avith ranks broken, and his men evidently 
disheartened. Some succeeded in getting over the fence," etc. etc. 

This one we should be thankful to. He was the savior of the clump. 
Can you find the bluff? 

And now another : " The charge was aimed directly at my com- 
mand, but owing apparently to the firm front shown them, the 
enemy diverged midway and came upon the line on my right." Then 
he took them in flank and probably without loss, captured not Lee, 
but the main portion of those Lee had dared to point towards him, 
" the larger portion of them surrendered and marched in not as con- 
querors but as captives." This all took place on our left, and b6yond 
the position of those who really were with us in our hour of need. 

But in pleasant contrast let us look to the right. There was " old" 
Alex. Hays, a glorious fighter, probably a man without a newspaper 
in his interest. He tells of his front without one attempt to take 
from any one their laurels fairly won. Thus he writes : — 

"Their march " (the enemy's) " was as steady as if impelled, march- 
ing unbroken by our artillery. . . . When within one hundred yards 
of our line, the fire of our men could no longer be restrained" . . . 
" before the smoke of our first volley had cleared away, the enemy, 
in dismay and consternation, were seeking safety in flight." 

With our right protected by Alex. Hays (than whom there was on 
that field no braver, and but few more observing officers), and with 
our left reinforced by Hall. Colonel Norman J. Hall commanding 
the 1st Brigade of our own division, I do not think we either looked 
for or asked for any one to dishearten the enemy before they reached 
us, nor did we expect any one to interpose their forces between our- 
selves and Pickett. Had these latter been near enough to the rebel 
line to know Pickett's men, they would never have permitted this 
absurd claim to have been made for them. 

It seems a little hard to be forced to state at this late day just 
what was the " point of attack of Longstreet's force." But, in self- 
defence, it must be done. Will you accept Longstreet's own state- 



13 

ments, and that of Colonel Harrison, General Pickett's Adjutant- 
General and Inspector-General, or that of General E, P. Alexander, 
of the Rebel artillery ? Bachelder says : " While visiting the field 
with him at Gettysbui-g, the copse of trees on General Webb's front 
was the point on which the troops were directed to advance." 
" These trees being relieved in clean outline against the sky, when 
seen from the Rebel line, formed an unmistakable landmark." 

Lieutenant-GeneralJames Longstreet spent several hours, in 1868, 
in Mr. Walker's studio, examining the painting of the Battle of 
Gettysburg, not then completed. After looking at it closely for some 
time, he turned with a sad smile to Bachelder, and said: "Colonel, 
there 's where I came to grief." 

" I have called your assault the ' tidal wave,' and the copse of trees 
in the centre of the picture, the ' high-water mark' of the rebellion," 
said Bachelder. " You said rightly," Longstreet responded ; " we 
were successful until then. From that point we retreated, and con- 
tinued to recede, and never again made successful headway." 

At a dinner given not more than five or six years ago, General 
Hancock, in reply to a toast given to him, and referring to his suc- 
cess at Gettysburg, said : " In every battle there must be one point 
upon which the success of either side must hinge. At such a posi- 
tion every earnest or brave General must hope to be posted. It was 
General Webb's good fortune to be posted at that point at Gettys- 
burg, and he held it." Have you any doubts remaining in your minds 
to-day in regard to the culminating point on this field? Here, there- 
fore, we claim were sacrificed the lives of these men, to whom all 
must give the highest honor, through force of position and circum- 
stance during the trying day, which decided forever the Rebel claim 
to rule this country — a claim w.hich had never been more properly 
asserted, than when spoken in our national Legislature in this wise : 
' I shall yet call the roll of my slaves under the shadow of the Bunker 
Hill monument.' " I refrain from alluding to another author who wrote 
page after page to prove that those whom we met were exhausted. 

The Third Bay. 

The 106th Regiment had been ordered to our right, to General 
Howard. They had won sufficient honor with us ; they received a 
glad welcome, and a corresponding praise when parted from us. 

Our 69th was on the left at the Avail, and in front of the now 
renowned copse of trees. On their right Avas most of the 71st Regi- 



14 

ment, a portion of it retired to the wall, behind the angle, placing it 
in echelon with the remainder. 

The 72d was posted immediately behind the crest of the mound or 
hill in support of Cushing's Battery and Hall. 

On our right was glorious old fighting Hays, and on our left Hall 
and Harrow. Our strength was but 1100 men and but 71 officers 
(of these we were to lose 13 officers and 152 men, of which latter 
but 17 were missing). As we now consider matters, we had not 
much more than one full regiment. 

We had heard and fully realized the severity of the morning's con- 
test in regaining for our side Gulp's Hill., abandoned the night before 
in the darkness. We had rested, but we were not unmindful of the 
fact that the silence of the enemy forebode some severe and well- 
planned attack. If not retreating, Lee was to be aggressive. 
\ About one o'clock, while the men were wondering what would 

be the next movement in this great Battle, a single Whitworth gun 
was fired from the left of Seminary Ridge, a distance of three miles. 
Then followed those signal guns, and at last that terrific fire from the 
Rebel artillery. Have you ever heard the like ? Shell and shot 
from nearly 150 pieces falling among our batteries and regiments. 
We had little or no cover save a pile of stones not two feet high. 
Had the fall of missiles been likened to hail, the picture would not 
have been overdrawn. A hissing, fiery storm — every conceivable 
bolt of destruction striking in our midst — the dreadful thud every- 
where ! Horse and carriage and dismounted gun lying where a little 
before had stood the Union Battery. The wounded, suffering, and 
the dying still and quiet in the midst. The calm and brave Gushing 
and his brother officers of that noble artillery, standing by their re- 
maining pieces to the last — our pride and our glory. When will it 
cease ? When will they cliarge ? for surely this is what it means. 
Can you not feel yet the heat of that bursting caisson ; the stones 
and sand from that exploded shell ? It will never be forgotten. And 
there in the wood they form " a solid front." Pickett and Pettigrew 
and Trimble — Virginia and Georgia and North Carolina, Virginia 
leading — are to take this clump of trees. Ah, well chosen was this 
gallant band ! See them now as their lines descend toward us — our 
countrymen, but our foes. With all, we cannot be other than proud 
of our enemies. They come to crown this crest or perish. 

Bring us now new batteries ! Let Wheeler and Cowan come to 
replace Woodruff and Gushing. , These are to die, but, oh ! such 
deaths, in very contact with the enemy. Let every man know now 



15 

that the impending strife is to be for life or death, for Union or 
defeat. 

Two lines of Rebel regiments, possibly 18,000 men, are moving on 
our line slowly and determinedly. They near the crest. Cashing, 
wounded, asks to have his remaining gun run down to the fence, and, 
glorious martyr, wounded, yea, sorely, stands by that piece the very 
picture of a soldier. Americans can well glory in the achievements 
of the Cushings. 

But Hancock, our glorious Hancock, ever near the front in action, 
was not to be easily overthrown by this mass of angry foes. He had 
the old Second corps and Doubleday's Division of the First ; and 
well he knew how to use us ! Stannard was to be used to stay the 
supporting column on the Rebel right, and well he did it. Gates, 
of Rowley's 1st Brigade, was enabled to assist in this movement. 
Harrow and Hall, of our own division, were near to help us, and 
Hays on our right with the 3d Division, with Smith's Brigade, was 
well able to hold his own. 

On, on they come with solid front ! line closing in upon line, as 
their right or left felt the pressure of Hancock's aggressive move- 
ments. And now they strike the 69th, under Colonel O'Kane, and 
a portion of the 71st, under Lieutenant-Colonel Kochersperger, and, 
halting under the withering fire of these brave men, pressed toward 
the open part of the wall, in front of the space held formerly by 
Cushing. Here, Armistead, waving his sword aloft, had rushed in 
with his men. Here, Cushing had died at his piece. Here, was to 
be the final struggle for the crest ! But this crest was not to be taken 
from us, if, by self-sacrifice and by individual effort, it could be 
retained. 

Pressed by a wedge-shaped column of Rebels, the right of those 
who guarded the Avail on the left of Cushing was pressed to the rear, 
but not penetrated or driven to the rear. They were better for de- 
fence in their new position. The brigade commander himself pointed 
out to them the number of the Rebels who had passed to their right, . 
and directed them to fire upon them, and to fight their right and 
rear. 

But past the wall — low enough for Armistead to step over — what 
had they to meet : First from our right the fire of the companies of 
the 71st, under Col. R. Penn Smith; then from the front the fire of 
the 72d Regiment, perfectly organized and in line on this crest, and 
from our left, and left centre, that of the body of Hall's men, the 
guard or rear guard under Captain Ford and Lieut. Lynch, of the 



16 

106th, wliich hurried to be with their brigade in the fray, and finally 
also, the rush of Kochersperger's men pressed right and left. With no 
hope of success in their front, and no hope of retreat, they surrendered. 
Arinistead dying — their dead and wounded within our lines — killed 
and maimed in a hand to hand contest, those in rear had nothing else 
to do. Hall, Havs, Harrow, did much to aid in securing this re- 
suit ; in every battle it will be and has been in vain to try to claim 
all the praise and all success for any one brigade or regiment ; but I 
defy you to find a contest in which any one brigade performed more 
nobly the part assigned to it. 

This is no description of this battle at the crest. No man on such 
an occasion as this can enter into the details of a history which would 
require the limits of a volume to portray its incidents. 

We came to tell of the deeds of those who lie buried here ; but 
pausing, find that the limits of this, my tribute to your patriotism, will 
not permit of it. Each name has been engraven on some panel. It 
may be, in what is to-day a place of obscurity ; but in the near future 
I can see that history, so often called unreliable, will — from some 
efforts such as this — be led to uncover these silent memorials, and in 
pages emblazoned with the symbols of truth, and breathing forth the 
imperishable words of Justice, will seek near this spot to relate to the 
world, the deeds of those unconquered heroes, who gave their lives 
to their country, in order that the power of the fiat, " Thus far shalt 
thou go, and no farther," might be proven to be in things temporal 
and in things spiritual, the will of Omnipotence. 

What words can better describe our feelings than those of our 
grand President, Abraham Lincoln, delivered on this spot : " The 
world will little note, nor long remember, w^iat we say here, but it 
can never forget what they did here." 

" From these honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause 
for which they gave the last full measure of devotion." 

Meade, beloved and honored, has passed from among us ; but his 
name shall live as the hero of Gettysburg. 

Lincoln is dead, but we well remember that we laid this, our offer- 
ing at his feet, acknowledging him to be for that, our National Crisis, 
the ordained savior of the principles of American Liberty. 

Hancock still lives, we give to him his portion of our glory and re- 
spect for giving to us his unstinted praise. And can we here forget 
our citizen friendandcompanion, J. Warner Johnson, the quiet, thought- 
ful friend of each and all of us. For his self-sacrifice, God has no 
doubt rewarded him. The man who shod and clothed some of these 



17 

very men, -who wisely counselled and befriended so many, who cared 
for the wounded, Avho supported the widows, has engraven on our 
hearts a remembrance we will cherish to the end. 

To our brethren of the Army we turn to do us justice. They who 
on this bloody field saw so much to try their patience and their valor, 
to them we look, as soldier may look to soldier, to give to the memo- 
ries of these, our comrades, their places in history. None, none but 
such brave men can estimate our work ; few, few yet live to tell of 
the intensity and strength of our trial. O'Kane and Tschudy, Duffy, 
Thompson, and Kelly, Steff'an and Dull, McBride, Griffiths and Jones, 
from their silent graves call for our maintenance of their rights, our 
cherishing of their reputations and their sacrifices. We will do our 
part. In this a memorial to all of them, we, rearing this monument to 
the dead of the T2d Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, do honor 
to all. 

The Rebel blow at our Unity, and the slave-holders' proud boast 
that the Northern artisan should yet succumb to their power and in- 
fluence, found on this spot their death-knell. 

The dead knew not, it may be, all that they have done ; but they 
died for us, and for our country. But ere the spirit fled, Heaven 
grant they saw that not in vain they bled. We approach their graves 
in reverence and in tears. We now know how much we owe to them. 
Rest ! patriot spirits. Rest ! We live to know how great was your 
sacrifice — how great was our gain. History shall give to you the 
glory and memory, crowding upon us all that we can recall of your 
gallantry and w^orth — will secure to you from us in the future, as 
now — love, aff'ection, and attachment, on occasions such as these. 

You have died that we might live, and this nation since your death 
honors annually her nation's dead. We decorate in fond remem- 
brance the graves of our nation's sacrificed. We find none who dare 
to withhold from them these symbols of the nation's gratitude. We 
speak of our Union dead as of the lost in our families ; of their cause 
for which they died, as of the cause of the salvation of our country 
and of her institutions ; of their services and death as of the sacrifices 
of her sons, that she might live. 

If the spirits of those who slumber here may be allowed to know 
of this, our tribute to their patriotism ; if the spirits of those who 
sowed, but never reaped ; who died for freedom, and for the fulfilling 
of God's will, may be allowed to commune with us to-day; we, their 
comrades and their survivors, can do nothing more fitting in our act 
of consecration of this humble memorial, than here to solemnly renew 
•7 



18 

our oaths of allegiance to our glorious Union; here to swear that 
this government, loved, honored, and preserved by us in the past, will 
be maintained, protected, and conserved by all in the future. God 
gave and preserved the Union of the United States. Who shall dare 
to sever us ? 

Brothers before the war — brothers to-day — we deplore the cause of 
these sad remembrances ; but we well know as few others can, that 
mementos such as these must be erected, that men may, in the 
sight of these hallowed graves, recall the errors of the past, and 
knowing the cost of rebellion against His will — resolve to foster and 
maintain the principles for which our fathers fought, for which their 
sons have died. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 



72d PENNSYLVANIA VOLUNTEERS, 

{PHILADELPHIA FIRE ZOUAVES.) 



The great uprising of the North, consequent upon the failure of the 
Union army at Bull Run, produced some memorable scenes of patri- 
otism. Citizens of all classes and professions, no longer deluded by 
the idea of an early settlement of the national question, commenced 
preparation for the serious work of restoring the supremacy of the 
Union, with the most patriotic determination and energy. In this 
work Philadelphia led the advance among the cities of the North, 
in furnishing men for the armies, clothing and supplies for the troops, 
hospitals for the wounded, and bountiful refreshments for regiments 
marching through her streets towards the scene of war. 

Among the large number of regiments formed in the city there 
were four organizations — the 69th, 71st, 72d, and 106th Pennsylvania 
Volunteers — that were united in one brigade, and maintained this 
relation during their full term of service. This " Philadelphia 
Brigade" was continually with the Army of the Potomac, and bore 
an honorable part in all its marches, sufferings, and battles. Edward 
D. Baker, a member of the United States Senate, a soldier and 
statesman, was the father of this command, he having been especially 
commissioned by President Lincoln to raise the 71st Pennsylvania 
Volunteers, or, as it was called at its muster, the California Regi- 
ment. On the 1st of July, 1861, this organization marched in column 
through the streets of Philadelphia en route to Fortress Monroe. 

Authority having been further given to Colonel Baker to enlist a 
brigade, an invitation was given to the \olunteer firemen of Phila- 
delphia to recruit the second regiment of this command. With the 
public spirit for which they were renowned, and, aided by the young 
men of the city, the 72d Regiment, or Philadelphia Fire Zouaves, 



20* 

comraanded by Colonel D. W. C. Baxter, and numbering fifteen 
companies, was quickly recruited. Many of the officers were expe- 
rienced in military drill ; and serving as non-commissioned officers 
or as private soldiers, were large numbers of young, active, and pa- 
triotic men, and physically well fitted for the fatigues and duties of 
the soldier. Recruiting for the regiment was commenced on the 3d 
of August, 1861, and in one week the ranks were full. The officers 
were : De Witt Clinton Baxter, of Philadelphia, Colonel ; Theodore 
Hesser, Lieutenant-Colonel ; James M. De Witt, of the Chicago 
Zouaves, Major ; Chas. W. West, Adjutant. 

The first camp of rendezvous was near Haddington, West Phila- 
delphia. To this place the new recruits were marched to be uni- 
formed, equipped, and taught in the school of the soldier. So great, 
however, was the need of the Government for troops that a few days 
after the formation of a camp, on September 15, 1861, the regiment 
was ordered to move forward to Washington. Colonel Baxter, by 
direction of General Baker, ordered " the assembly" to sound, and 
the regiment paraded and formed a hollow square. In the centre 
mounted, and accompanied by his staif, was the venerable Edward D. 
Baker. With the right hands uplifted, and with vmcovered heads, the 
Fire Zouaves swore to support the Government of the United States, 
and to obey the militai'y orders of their commander ; an oath that 
was to be sealed subsequently by the blood of many of the bright 
young soldiers who took the obligation. The scene was a memorable 
one, and has left impressions that time will not easily efface. The 
September evening's sun fell with gilded rays upon the lines of troops 
with their dark Zouave jackets, light blue trousers, and faultless white 
leggings, the magnificent stand of colors held aloft by the color guard, 
and the bright uniforms of the officers. As the mass of men sur- 
rounded their commander, and slowly and solemnly repeated his 
words, the sight was a picturesque one. Little did those who par- 
ticipated know that this gallant leader, the central figure of the 
group, would soon lie dead on the field at Ball's Bluff, with comrades 
of the brigade killed and wounded about him. 

A few hours after this muster, the 72d Regiment at midnight 
marched through the streets of the city by the light of bonfires, and 
accompanied with ringing of fire bells and the plaudits of the citizens. 
Upon the arrival at Washington, the regiment was ordered to Chain 
Bridge, Virginia, and in two weeks after, although part of the com- 
mand had not yet received arms, it was in the night advance upon 
Munson's Hill, memorable for the loss in killed and wounded in the 



21 

Philadelphia Brigade through a mistake on the part of some of the 
columns. 

During the winter of 1861-62 the Fire Zouaves were engaged on 
picket duty along the Potomac, and in preparing for the struggle 
that was sure to come with the opening of spring. In March, 1862, 
the regiment formed part of General Banks's advance, crossing at 
Harper's Ferry and moving upon Winchester, A portion of the 
command was assigned to the duty of holding Charlestown, one of the 
officers being Provost Marshal. During this occupancy by the 72d 
the old jail of John Brown was used for the first time as a place of 
shelter for slaves escaping from their masters, and in strange contrast 
with its history the prison house of " the martyr" became the house of 
liberty to those for whom he perished. 

Upon the termination of the forward movement of General Banks, 
the regiment was transferred with the Philadelphia Brigade to Fortress 
Monroe and the Peninsula. Under McClellan at Yorktown, during 
April, 1862, the duties of the siege brought the losses incidental to 
work in the trenches, and exposure to the continued fire of the enemy's 
sharpshooters and artillery. From Yorktown the campaign led to 
the swamps of the Chickahominy, where some of the best of the men 
perished with fevers, and died where there was — 

"Lack of -woman's nursing, and 

dearth of woman's care." 

The brigade at this time was commandeded by General W. W. 
Burns, a regular array officer of great ability, who had succeeded the 
lamented General E. D. Baker. It was under his leadership that 
the Philadelphia Brigade entered battle as an entire command for 
the first time, May 31st, at Fair Oaks, Virginia. Frequently before 
this the men had been under fire either in companies or squads, but 
now, and from this time forth, the four Philadelphia regiments were 
destined to stand as comrades shoulder to shoulder on many a hard 
fought field, and it would be scarcely possible to write the history of 
one of these gallant regiments without at the same time relating the 
deeds of another. Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, Peach Orchard, Savage 
Station, Glendale, Malvern Hill, are battles in which all bore an 
honorable part and did a soldier's duty. General Burns wrote 
officially after the series of battles of the Peninsula campaign : " I 
am entirely satisfied with the conduct of my brigade. It has been 
christened under fire, and will do what is required of it." 

The few words necessary to announce the transfer from the Penin- 
sula by steamer to Alexandria, and thence onward to Centreville to 



22 

aid the army of General Pope, are but the frame to memory's picture. 
Dead comrades lay buried before Yorktown and Richmond, and there 
were gloomy forebodings of the conflicts to come. In spite of the 
discouragements, the gallant men of the regiment, though weary and 
footsore, suffering for want of ordinary soldier's food and clothing, 
struggled onward ever trying to follow their flag, which was never 
dishonored, toward the sound of the guns of the enemy. After 
Chantilly they formed part of the rear guard that covered the dis- 
heartened columns retiring upon Washington. 

The battle of Antietam was fought Sept. 17, 1862. In this action 
the brigade, in the absence of General Burns, wounded, was com- 
manded by General 0. 0. Howard. The 72d was moved in line of 
battle to the Hagerstown road near the historical Dunker Church. 
At this point General Sedgwick, the division commander, ordered 
the men to cross the road, enter the woods, and push forward. The 
order was promptly obeyed, and under severe fire, the regiment losing 
very heavily in the movement. Arriving at the very front and exposed 
to the fire of the enemy's batteries at short range, and within sight 
of the line, the men commenced firing as rapidly as they could load 
and aim, until General Sumner in person directed the regiment to 
retire to a better position to the right and rear.^ 

The fall of 1862 was spent by McClellan in refitting the army, 
and, while the 2d Corps then laid about Harper's Ferry, the 72d 
Regiment was selected to furnish the provost guard of Bolivar, one of 
the line officers being detailed as marshal. 

On the morning of December 11th the attack on Fredericksburg 
began, and it was nightfall, and after a heavy artillery fire and some 
fighting, that the pontoons were laid across the Rappahannock. The 
Philadelphia brigade, under command of General Joshua T. Owen, 

' General Palfrey in "Antietam and Fredericksburg," Scribner series, in 
describing the battle of Antietam says: "The Philadelphia Brigade was the 
first to go." This statement is false, and without any justification for its utter- 
ance, and is the result of ignorance, carelessness, or wilful misrepresentation. 
The writer at the time referred to was a captain in the 7 2d Regiment serving 
with his company, and in the heat of the action heard General Sumner give the 
order. At first he was misunderstood, and the men were about to fix bayonets 
to charge, when the General repeated the order, adding, "you are in a false 
position," or words to that effect. Instead of being the "first to go," the men 
within the view of the writer were the last to leave the line. They retired to 
their new position, walking some distance backwards facing the enemy and 
carrying the 72d's flag with them. 



23 

was the first to enter the town by the bridge. The duty of driving 
the skirmishers of the enemy from the place was assigned to the regi- 
ment. After fighting from street to street, losing some men and cap- 
turing a portion of the Confederate guard, the work was accomplished. 
In the battle of the 18th the command was double-quicked early in 
the day to a position in front of Marye's house. Here the Irish 
brigade, after a gallant charge, had failed, and, to anticipate a 
counter charge from the enemy, the regiment, with the rest of the 
brigade, was ordered to lie down in readiness. This was one of the 
most difficult duties of a soldier. Lying in front of our own batteries, 
and facing those of the enemy, subject to the chance shots of one 
and targets for the other, the position was one of great exposure. In 
addition to this, the sharpshooters from Marye's Hill had the entire 
day for practice upon men who could not return the fire. The posi- 
tion was bravely held until midnight, when General Sykes's division 
of regulars relieved our troops. 

In the Chancellorsville movements special duties were assigned the 
brigade. With a pontoon train and several pieces of artillery the 
command moved to Bank's Ford, di'ove back the pickets, laid a 
bridge, and upon the recrossing of General Sedgwick's corps at 
night, May 5th, formed an entire picket line about the corps. This 
position was held until all the corps had crossed, when the pickets 
silently withdrew, and the bridge was taken up. 

From the Rappahannock to Gettysburg was a series of marches, 
counter-marches, and skirmishes. Some of these marches were forced 
and of unusual length, and it was a matter for congratulation when 
the T2d Regiment was massed in front of the position they were to 
hold at Gettysburg to find that but few had fallen by the way, and 
almost the entire command were present for duty and answered to roll 
call. The brigade was put into position by General Alexander S. 
Webb in command, on Granite Ridge, to the left of the cemetery, the 
7 2d supporting Cushing's battery. In- the afternoon, during the 
severe fight that followed the repulse of General Sickels, the regi- 
ment made a most gallant counter-charge, driving the enemy beyond 
the Emmettsburg road. In this action Colonel Baxter was severely 
wounded. On July 3d, during the morning, and through the terrific 
bombardment, the Fire Zouaves laid to the left of Bri^wn's battery. 
When the enemy, under General Pickett, began to move forward to 
attack the position held by the Philadelphia Brigade, the regiment 
was moved by the flank to the ridge, directly in front of the point 



2^ 

assailed, and at once came under a heavy fire. The loss in killed 
and wounded was most severe ; but the ground was nobly held, and, 
with the assistance of their comrades of the brigade and of the divi- 
sion, the attacking forces were shattered and their columns almost 
destroyed by the troops of the 2d Corps. This was the supreme 
effort of the rebellion. The Army of the Potomac gained imperish- 
able honor, and no regiment or command can claim more than an 
equal share, but it can be written of the 72d " they did their duty, 
and their conduct was most satisfactory." In this action the regi- 
ment lost 46 killed and 146 wounded. 

A sketch of scenes of war, covering over three years, cannot be 
condensed into a few short pages. " The march under Grant," the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Richmond, all 
added to the glory of the flag. These names cannot be written, 
however, without recalling the roll of brave men " dead on the field 
of honor," or of sad mothers and relatives who were left to mourn 
the return of those Avho marched away from Philadelphia so full of 
life and hope on the Sunday night of September, 1861. 

With a view of keeping these memories green, the " survivors of 
the 72d Regiment" determined to erect upon the field where the 
heaviest proportionate loss of the regiment was met, at Gettysburg, 
a massive monument. The material selected is rock from the bat- 
tle field, fashioned after a handsome design by Wilson and Brother, of 
Philadelphia. The monument itself, a work of art, was cut and en- 
graved by J. W. Flaherty, of Gettysburg. Three sides of the huge 
block, looking toward the position of the enemy, are rugged and 
quarry faced ; the fourth is handsomely carved and polished, and has 
let into its face a fine bronze tablet, by Blake & Co., of Boston, con- 
taining this inscription : — 

' ' The ground of the last assault. 

The Philadelphia Brigade 

Gen. Alexander S. Webb 

held this angle July 2d and 3d 1863 

Casualties in the battle 495. 

The 7 2d Pa. Vols. 

'Philadelphia Fire Zouaves' 

lost 10 officers and 182 men 

out of 473 present for duty. 

The Eegiment erects this tribute 

to the memory of fallen comrades." 



25 

In defraying the expenses of this elegant structure, liberal contri- 
butions were made by the members of the regiment, and they were 
nobly aided by many public spirited citizens. 

The ceremony of dedication took place on the aftei'noon of August 
27th, and the members of the regiment who were present were 
escorted by the Guard of Post 2 of Philadelphia, a delegation of the 
106th Pennsylvania Volunteers, under General Lynch, and a large 
number of comrades from Posts of the Grand Army. The Gettys- 
burg Battlefield Memorial Association was represented by Vice- 
President McCreery and Colonel Bachelder. After an address of 
reception by Mr. McCreery, the masterly oration of the day was 
delivered to an attentive and appreciative audience by General Alex- 
ander S. Webb, the brave and honored commander in the battle of 
Gettysburg. 



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